What is the mimimum hardware requirments for a 75 computer network

We are purchasing a new computer for a school.
It will be running Server 2003 or 2008.

The question is what are the minimum hardware requirements:

The server will be used for the student network which is made up of about 75
computers.

The student will log in at the beginning of class, and work on their files
(mainly word and excel files). And at the end of class they will log off.

So my question is, what is the minimum hardware specs needed (we are trying
to keep costs down)?

Thanks

 

"ghu" <ghu@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:0452987C-C882-4517-94A0-2F8080B476FC@microsoft.com...<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
> We are purchasing a new computer for a school.
> It will be running Server 2003 or 2008.
>
> The question is what are the minimum hardware requirements:
>
> The server will be used for the student network which is made up of about
> 75
> computers.
>
> The student will log in at the beginning of class, and work on their files
> (mainly word and excel files). And at the end of class they will log off.
>
> So my question is, what is the minimum hardware specs needed (we are
> trying
> to keep costs down)?
>
> Thanks<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

Some quick general comments. I support many schools with one Active
Directory Domain Controller and 75 computers is not a lot. I believe the
minimum recommended requirements for the operating system are often fine.
For Windows Server 2003 this would be 550 MHz, 256 MB RAM, VGA, CD-ROM drive
(to install), and network adapter. Hard drive required (NTFS) is at least 2
GB for the OS, plus 1.5 times the amount of RAM for paging. For 100 students
I don't think Active Directory will require even 75 MB hard drive
additional.

If you increase anything, RAM would be a good choice. However, the hard
drive requirements depend on your situation. If the Word and Excel files are
saved on the Domain Controller (which is much preferred), you should
estimate the space per student (not computer) you want to support and add
that to the space required by the OS. A server class computer is recommended
since many people will be using it at once and you want the disk system
(controller and cache) to support that. Obviously things like video and
monitor are not important and can be cheap.

The next step for most schools is another DC to provide redundancy. Also, a
backup solution is highly recommended. If you have only one server, it
should be dedicated and kept secure if possible. You may not even want to
install Office on it.

--
Richard Mueller
MVP Directory Services
Hilltop Lab -
--

 

Re: What is the mimimum hardware requirments for a 75 computer net

We currently have an old Dell P3 server running windows 2000. And the
teachers complain that the whole system is running extremely slow.

Thanks

"Richard Mueller [MVP]" wrote:
<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
>
> "ghu" <ghu@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:0452987C-C882-4517-94A0-2F8080B476FC@microsoft.com...<!--coloro:green--><span style="color:green <!--/coloro-->
> > We are purchasing a new computer for a school.
> > It will be running Server 2003 or 2008.
> >
> > The question is what are the minimum hardware requirements:
> >
> > The server will be used for the student network which is made up of about
> > 75
> > computers.
> >
> > The student will log in at the beginning of class, and work on their files
> > (mainly word and excel files). And at the end of class they will log off.
> >
> > So my question is, what is the minimum hardware specs needed (we are
> > trying
> > to keep costs down)?
> >
> > Thanks<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
>
> Some quick general comments. I support many schools with one Active
> Directory Domain Controller and 75 computers is not a lot. I believe the
> minimum recommended requirements for the operating system are often fine.
> For Windows Server 2003 this would be 550 MHz, 256 MB RAM, VGA, CD-ROM drive
> (to install), and network adapter. Hard drive required (NTFS) is at least 2
> GB for the OS, plus 1.5 times the amount of RAM for paging. For 100 students
> I don't think Active Directory will require even 75 MB hard drive
> additional.
>
> If you increase anything, RAM would be a good choice. However, the hard
> drive requirements depend on your situation. If the Word and Excel files are
> saved on the Domain Controller (which is much preferred), you should
> estimate the space per student (not computer) you want to support and add
> that to the space required by the OS. A server class computer is recommended
> since many people will be using it at once and you want the disk system
> (controller and cache) to support that. Obviously things like video and
> monitor are not important and can be cheap.
>
> The next step for most schools is another DC to provide redundancy. Also, a
> backup solution is highly recommended. If you have only one server, it
> should be dedicated and kept secure if possible. You may not even want to
> install Office on it.
>
> --
> Richard Mueller
> MVP Directory Services
> Hilltop Lab -
> --
>
>
> <!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

 

Re: What is the mimimum hardware requirments for a 75 computer net

I'm running a server in a school with about 50 computers. The server
is more than 3 years old and has been recently upgraded - 320GB HDD,
Xeon CPU 2.8GHz and 4GB RAM but we have SQL server running, few
applications, DFS, Exchange and soon it'll server as a streaming
server.

If you'll run just file server with AD minimum server that you can get
today from Dell for about $900 (without OS) will be more than
sufficient. You may just think about the upgrade or reinstall if your
school don't have the money to buy a new server (I don't know where
are you from and what's the situation like in your school). The
license for server 2008 is about the same price as the server. But as
a school you have a discount I reckon...

 

Re: What is the mimimum hardware requirments for a 75 computer net

Budget is extremely tight.

Do these specs sounds good enough? Is there anything that I am missing, or
anything extra? Remeber, we do want to leave a little room to grow. Thanks


Intel® Xeon® E5504, 2.0Ghz, 4M Cache, 800MHz Max Mem (only one. Is two
necessary)?

4GB Memory (2x2GB), 1066MHz, Dual Ranked UDIMMs for 1 Processor (Is RDIMM
necessary)?

No additional controller (perc, etc.. is any necessary?)

No Raid

500GB 7.2k RPM Serial ATA 3Gbps 3.5-in Cabled Hard Drive

NO dual power supplies.




Thank You






"Juraj" wrote:
<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
> I'm running a server in a school with about 50 computers. The server
> is more than 3 years old and has been recently upgraded - 320GB HDD,
> Xeon CPU 2.8GHz and 4GB RAM but we have SQL server running, few
> applications, DFS, Exchange and soon it'll server as a streaming
> server.
>
> If you'll run just file server with AD minimum server that you can get
> today from Dell for about $900 (without OS) will be more than
> sufficient. You may just think about the upgrade or reinstall if your
> school don't have the money to buy a new server (I don't know where
> are you from and what's the situation like in your school). The
> license for server 2008 is about the same price as the server. But as
> a school you have a discount I reckon...
> <!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->